


wonder how we ever came to be

by Nicitia



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-06
Updated: 2014-10-06
Packaged: 2018-02-20 02:58:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2412485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicitia/pseuds/Nicitia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She kept telling herself that it didn't mean anything, but some things will whether you want them to or not. </p>
<p>Meryl Davis, Scott Moir, letting complicated things mean what they mean.</p>
            </blockquote>





	wonder how we ever came to be

To say that their eventual relationship was unexpected would be a massive understatement. Even now it’s difficult to properly convey the extent of the shock and confusion, and--in the case of the media--utter glee that descended upon the skating world when they ended up together. Not even Meryl and Scott could have predicted, with any degree of seriousness, that they would someday say that they were, in fact, dating. But nevertheless, there it was.

Really, it had been a long time coming.

They first meet at 2004 Junior Worlds. Later, she’ll mostly remember him as a kind of smarmy asshole, who was also kind of a weirdo. He and Tessa place only two places above her and Charlie, but Scott takes the opportunity to gloat about it anyways. Tessa’s sweet, though, and Scott mellows out around her, his jokes a little less barbed. Meryl still ends up rolling her eyes far too many times over the course of one dinner, but it’s a pleasant enough way to spend the evening.

For the most part, though, Meryl puts him out of her mind except to mark him down as potential competition, until she and Charlie arrive at Arctic Edge to meet their new coach. Meryl glances up and she sees a familiar smirk from across the ice. Scott is polite enough when Marina and Igor are watching, but as soon as their backs are turned Meryl is forcibly reminded that his favorite past time is making fun of people, and she’s no exception.

The thing is, though, she’s starting to realize that Scott is maybe not as much of an asshole as he appears to be. He’s kind of goofy, to be honest, and his mocking is mostly friendly, so she just rolls her eyes and smiles, occasionally firing a barb back.

So overall, yes, Scott’s still kind of an asshole, with confidence bordering on arrogance, but also surprisingly sweet at times--although mostly to Tessa. He’s also a little bit Meryl’s type. Not that she’d tell him that.

One day, though, after she’s taken one to many less than friendly jabs at her appearance, Scott makes the mistake of calling her horse-face and she can’t help but flinch, pressing her lips together and looking away. Meryl knows it’s just friendly teasing, but she feels a tiny flicker of hurt anyway. Scott takes one look at her face, swallows his next jibe, and immediately backpedals.

“Of course,”, Scott says hastily, “There was that one book about Black Beauty, so with your hair you aren’t exactly a lost cause.” It is the absolute worst recovery she has ever heard in her life, and he seems to realize this, because he sighs, and shifts uncomfortably.

“Seriously, you’re beautiful. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a moron.” 

Meryl had almost forgotten how sweet he could be when he wanted to be, and she’s kind of touched. It’s probably the nicest thing she’s ever heard him say to anyone who wasn’t Tessa. At practice the next day, he’s back to making fun of her, but she can tell he goes a little easier on her. When it comes time for lunch, she finds her favorite sandwich from the nearby café wrapped and placed neatly on her bag.

In any case, he never makes fun of her looks again.

As soon as 2008 Worlds are over, Charlie, Tessa, and, of course, Scott all immediately besiege her to buy them alcohol to celebrate. Charlie and Scott argue that “It’s only a few more months, come on Mer,” and Tessa adds “We’re all legal in Canada!” She finally gives in and, on a day where neither team has practice the next day, she buys cheap beer and lets them in her apartment. Scott mocks American beer as soon as he takes a sip, but he drinks it anyways.

It’s honestly a lot of fun, sipping cheap beer and watching cheesy skating movies, occasionally jabbing Scott in the ribs when he won’t stop talking. Charlie turns out to be a total lightweight, giggling and passing out after a couple beers. Tessa lasts a little longer, but eventually she too succumbs to intoxicated sleep. So it ends up being just Scott and Meryl sipping beer in front of the flickering television, Scott’s commentary becoming more and more spaced out as they become progressively drunker. 

So there’s nothing to stop them from gravitating towards each other, her cheek lazy against his shoulder, his hand on her thigh. He mumbles something into her hair, and when she turns her head to ask him to repeat it, her face ends up too close to his. He had goaded her into drinking more than she normally would, and so she doesn’t have the presence of mind to remember why she shouldn’t lean forwards and kiss him.

They make out, sloppy and drunk, as the credits roll behind them. His hand winds up under her shirt as her hand slides down his back. Scott cradles her face in her hands for a moment, and it’s almost tender until he passes out in her lap with an undignified snort.

When Meryl wakes up the next morning, she’s lying next to Scott with his leg flung over hers. Her shirt’s ridden up a bit, but she’s otherwise decent. Really, there’s nothing incriminating about their position. She rolls away anyway, groaning a bit at her slight hangover. Even more prominent than her headache is the confusion she feels, embarrassment warring with hope and irritation and a tiny bit of self loathing, because even when drunk she knew it was stupid.

After that, she tells them that they need to focus on training, and if they want to buy alcohol so badly, Charlie and Scott can buy it in a few months. She cites their hangovers as evidence that they shouldn’t be drinking too much, and Charlie and Tessa seem to buy it if their huffs of disappointment are any indication. 

Scott rolls his eyes and calls her a wet blanket, but there’s a knowing edge to his smirk that makes her avoid him for a few days. She needs to keep a strict watch on herself when he’s around, especially if there’s alcohol. 

For a couple weeks after, Scott’s teasing has a flirtatious edge, but she ignores that too. He’s some of her biggest competition, and her life doesn’t need that kind of complication. So she pushes away the flutter in chest that she feels when she looks at him, and refuses to acknowledge how he looks at her. It doesn’t mean anything anyway.

Still, it’s hard to ignore her attraction to Scott when she sees him every day. When he sidles up to her to whisper a joke about Charlie, or Fedor, or Marina, or whomever. When they hug after competitions, his arms warm and firm around her, holding her close. There’s no harm, Meryl decides, in acknowledging this, at least to herself, just so long as she doesn’t do anything about it. Because the Olympics are looming nearer, and she has to be focused.

Things start to change between her and Scott--soften, maybe--when Tessa starts dating Fedor. Scott is grumpy all the time, even as he tries to pretend that he and Fedor are the best of friends. She’s sympathetic to a point, but even if Fedor is kind of douchey, it’s Tessa’s life. So she pushes away any impulses she has to comfort him beyond a gentle “I’m sorry,” and letting Charlie do the rest of the pep talking. While her attraction to Scott is ultimately harmless, she can’t let herself get into too deep. He’s her competition, and she can’t get involved with him. She doesn’t even have to talk to Charlie about it to know that he’d agree with her decision.

As it turns out, however, Charlie didn’t agree, at least not enough to make the same choice. When she finds out about Tanith, finds out that they’d been sneaking around for months but he hadn’t told her, hadn’t even consulted her before making the potentially stupidest decision of his career, she’s furious. They’ve beaten Tanith and Ben for awhile now, that could change, especially if Charlie’s emotionally compromised. She and Charlie have their first real fight in years before she storms off.

She’s angry, angry enough that when she runs into Scott, and he jokingly hits on her, she snaps at him far more bitterly than he deserved. He looks hurt for a moment, which leads to her having a breakdown in the arms of Scott fucking Moir, and ends up telling him the whole story. So he does what he thinks is best and takes her back to his place to get drunk.

She rants at him between drinks, alcohol burning her throat as much as anger, bitterness and betrayal lacing her voice. Scott’s a surprisingly good listener, nodding as she speaks, letting her vent.

“Well,” he begins after she finally winds down. “That proves it.”

She blinks at him, a little buzzed. “Proves what?”

He sighs dramatically, sweeping his arms out. “Charlie is officially the dumbest person in the world. How have you managed it all these years?”

She cracks a smile. “I don’t even know anymore.”

They take turns insulting Charlie for awhile, eventually settling on “Chuckles A. White, Failboat Extraordinaire”. She’s slightly tipsy, but she’d mostly been ranting rather than drinking, so there shouldn’t be any reason for her to wind up smiling against his mouth, her fingers in his hair. There’s a moment’s hesitation as she stumbles towards his bedroom, but then she remembers -Tanith- and her resolve firms. 

If Charlie can date the competition, she can have a little fun. It doesn’t have to mean anything.

It doesn’t happen all the time. Sometimes she goes home alone and considers breaking off the arrangement entirely. Sometimes she’s simply too tired after practice to do anything more than go to sleep as soon as she’s home.

But it happens.

The Olympics are another turning point.

Scott and Tessa win, as is mostly expected, but when she and Charlie go in to hug them during one of their interviews, Meryl lets her boundaries slip. She flings her arms around Scott’s middle, and he immediately turns to press a kiss to her hairline, to draw her close. Meryl had been genuinely happy for him, but there’s another kind of happiness bubbling up when he doesn’t let go, just continues holding her. Their embrace lasts too long--when she sees Charlie coming into hug Scott, she pulls away to let him, but Scott kisses her cheek and pulls her close again for a moment before finally releasing her.

As she hugs Tessa, she wonders if anyone had noticed that they had been a touch too affectionate, that they had hugged a bit too tightly, a bit too long, the kisses to her forehead and cheek, the whispered words of congratulations a little too tender, their smiles a little too bright. But no one notices. Not Charlie, not Tessa, not even the reporter, whose job is all about scandal.

It’s probably for the best.

They still don’t hook up in Vancouver, and Meryl tries not to dwell on why. It doesn’t matter anyways, and he should be spending time with his partner after winning the Olympics. Or celebrating with his family. A meaningless fling like theirs doesn’t even rate.

 

Actually, they don’t hook up until right before Worlds. Tessa and Charlie head home after practice, but Meryl decides to grab a bite to eat from a nearby cafe. That’s not unusual; she does it often enough. What’s surprising is Scott throwing an arm around her shoulders and announcing that he intends to join her. She doesn’t understand why he’s following her, especially now. Tessa had just broken up with Fedor and Scott’s spent the last few weeks all but attached to her.

She doesn’t fight it, though, lets things progress the way she knows they would from the moment he wraps his arm around her shoulders.

He lingers for awhile after after they finish eating, drinking the last of her “shitty American beer”. His fingers drum idly on her thigh for awhile before he speaks.

“So, Tanith and Ben are retiring?” It’s a really stupid question, but that’s not what he’s asking. 

Meryl sighs. “She’s moving in with Charlie at the end of the summer.”

Scott raises his eyebrows. “That’s a little fast, isn’t it? Especially with all the traveling they’ll be doing.”

She shrugs. “I don’t think either of us really gets a say in that,” and it comes out a little too bitter so she deliberately lightens her tone. “Besides, she’s got this adorable puppy, and I think that’s half the reason he’s moving in with her anyway.

Scott snorts. “He would.” He falls silent for awhile. “But you two are going to continue to be the second best team in the world, right?” And, coming from him, that’s actually quite nice. 

“Nah,” she says, smiling. “We’re going to be the best.”

He laughs. “In your dreams.”

It’s all a joke, until it isn’t anymore.

She and Charlie become the first American team to win Worlds, and Tessa and Scott are gracious about it, genuinely happy for their success. Team Canton is closer than ever, and Tessa and Scott are close as well, even a little too close.

Meryl ends up hooking up with Fedor on occasion, even though it might actually be a worse idea than sleeping with Scott. She just… needs something relieve the stress of slowly building tensions. The ceaseless, close competition hasn’t ruined their friendships, not yet, but she can see that it’s going to after the next Worlds, no matter who wins. She confesses this late at night to Scott, her voice soft and vulnerable in the dark where he can’t see her face. He shrugs at her, and the light is low but she can still just barely see the easy, careless grin on his face, his self-assurance that everything will be alright.

“Competing isn’t the same unless you have someone you’re trying to beat. It’ll be fine, so don’t worry.” He kisses her, soft and sweet, and Meryl closes her eyes and tries to believe him.

She’s still right in the end. Tessa and Scott win the next Worlds and their friendship falls away.

Meryl notices it the most with Tessa, who barely speaks to her or Charlie anymore, but Scott’s distant now too. It’s frustrating, seeing him act like they hadn’t been friends, all because of his stupid fricking pride. Sometimes it makes her want to cry a little, but mostly it makes her mad, makes her want to shove him into a wall and demand to know why she’s not allowed to be better, if he expected her to just be happy with 2nd place forever. If he really never thought that it would ever change.

Actually, Charlie’s probably not the stupidest person in the world, Meryl thinks. That place was currently being fought over by Scott Moir and Meryl Davis, because Scott’s acting like a selfish child, and Meryl’s never felt so dumb in her life as she does when he refuses to meet her gaze.

She considers talking to Charlie about it, but she doesn’t know what she’d even say. Charlie misses their old friends as much as she does, she can tell, but her relationship with Tessa and Scott is more complicated. She doesn’t know where she’d even begin, especially as she’d never told him about Scott. Meryl had intended every time with Scott to be the last time, the last moment of indulgence before she ended it, but she had never gotten around to it. And the way Charlie reacted when she decided to officially date Fedor had been bad enough. She can only imagine how he’d react if he found out about Scott, even after the fact.

She feels like there’s distance between her and Charlie, new and unpleasant and unbreachable, and she doesn’t know how to change it. He’s gotten better at emoting with her on the ice, but that’s just acting and she doesn’t know how to talk to him about any of this. And she certainly doesn’t know how to talk to Scott, whose mind she had never been able to read.

But she had enjoyed that. She had enjoyed learning him, what made him smile, the way he was meticulous about staying tidy, the extra toothbrushes in his medicine cabinet, that he enjoyed cooking. And, most of all, that he wasn’t an asshole. That he genuinely cared about his friends.

That he had cared about her.

But that’s all over now, because it’s 2013, and Meryl and Charlie win Worlds for the second time, and she knows nothing will ever be the same again.

On the podium, Scott and Tessa do their best to look gracious, but it’s tense and awkward all the same. There’s part of her that feels a little like crying, but she refuses to, refuses to let her old friends ruin her victory, her proving to the world that 2011 was not a fluke, that she could be an Olympic Champion.

That Meryl deserved to be Olympic Champion.

And she won’t let anybody take that triumph away from her.

Except it’s two days after they get home from Worlds and Scott is at her door. She opens the door and stares at him, waiting for him to snark, or yell, or apologize, or kiss her. He looks down, shuffles his feet a bit.  
“Can I come in?” Meryl nods, because he might as well. Fedor isn’t here tonight, anyway, so it’s not as if she’s going to have to deal with an awkward run in between her boyfriend and her ex in her own home.

Not that she and Scott had been dating, but still.

He sits down on her couch, without meeting her eyes. Meryl sits on the couch a little bit away, part of her longing to be closer, to rest her head on his shoulder so he could stroke her hair, to wrap her arms around him and feel his breathing, slow and steady. But the more rational side of her makes her keep her distance, because she can’t keep letting herself gravitate towards him, keep letting herself get pulled in when there’s so much at stake. And in any case, she hadn’t been the one who had stopped talking to him without warning. 

“I told Tessa.” He says bluntly, awkward and sheepish and defiant all at the same time. Her thoughts grind to a screeching halt. 

“What?!” and it’s half surprised yelp, half horrified whisper. Scott almost looks kind of guilty for half a moment before he finds his resolve.

“I told Tessa,” he replies calmly, but not without a little more bite in his voice. “It’s not like it matters, anyway, since you’ve made the especially bright decision to date Fedor--excellent idea, by the way, no way that could end badly--but Tessa deserved to know. Haven’t you told Charlie?” He says the last part in a deliberately casual way, as if he honestly didn’t know that she hadn’t.

He stands up to leave, and Meryl doesn’t do confrontation, she never has, but she’s angry now, as angry she was the first time she slept with Scott, and she’s done pretending she doesn’t care. Meryl grabs his wrist, and maybe she doesn’t lift people every day as part of her career, but she’s still pretty fricking strong.

“You barely speak to me for months, and now you decide to tell Tessa about something that hasn’t happened in a year, without even talking to me about it?” She’s trying to keep her voice steady but it’s all she can do to stop herself from pouring out her anger and betrayal and grief, and, yes, guilt, because Charlie was her partner--is her partner--and Tessa was her friend, even if Meryl wasn’t hers anymore, and she hadn’t told them.

But Scott had only told Tessa because he was upset, she can tell without him answering. And maybe that makes him worse than her. She tells him this, voice laced with anger, and he storms out, slamming her door behind him.

He doesn’t apologize, but she does find an appropriately remorseful, if blank, and nameless Hallmark card in the mail a few days later. Trust Scott Moir to be unable to apologize in person.

It’s another two weeks before they all have practice together again, but it’s noticeably awkward. The tatters of the friendship between the two teams has vanished almost completely. Tessa never looks at Meryl once, and it’s probably Meryl’s fault. Scott doesn’t look at her either, but when it’s time to break for lunch, her favorite sandwich is once again placed neatly on top of her bag. Part of her wants to chuck it in the trash, because a sandwich isn’t an apology, and neither is an unsigned card, but mostly she’s just tired. Tired of being angry, of keeping secrets, of losing her friends. So Meryl eats the sandwich, and deliberately throws away the wrapper in front of Scott. His eyes meet hers for the first time since he was at her house two weeks ago, and he half smiles before turning away.

It’s not reconciliation. But it’s something.

She decides to tell Charlie that night, because he shouldn’t be the last to know. She doesn’t think Tessa would tell anyone, but, still. And maybe, she’s realizing, because this might be something worth telling. Not everything has to mean something, but some things will whether you want them to or not.

Maybe sometimes you have to let things mean something.

As soon as she manages to drag Charlie to her place, she tells him. “I’ve been sleeping with Scott.”

Charlie goes from laughing incredulously to being completely silent when he realizes she isn’t joking. 

“How long?” he asks, finally. Meryl can read him like a book, and she knows he’s struggling to be supportive through confusion and betrayal, and it’s actually kind of sweet. He’s reacting better than she had expected.

“Before the Olympics,” she says and Charlie swallows. He has never been one to get angry, but he’s upset, she can tell.

“Four years. Four years and you never told me?”

Meryl feels a sudden stab of guilt. “It was supposed to be a one time thing.”

“Mer, Scott and Tessa are our only competition for winning the Olympics.” Charlie says this slowly, like she’s a small child, and she snaps.

“And I know that, but it’s not like someone being your competition has stopped you.” Four years worth of pent up frustration and bitterness come out in that one sentence, because she always let’s things go, never fights for anything but her next medal, because it’s just easier to let things fade away.

Charlie looks incredulous. “Tanith? That’s what this is about?”

“No!” It comes out sharp and indignant when all she had wanted to be was reasonable and calm. Maybe it had been, a little, at first, but it wasn’t as if she had spent three years sneaking around for revenge. And she does like Tanith, who is sweet and kind and perfect. Meryl sighs and stares out over Charlie’s shoulder instead of meeting his eyes.

“It’s been over for a year anyway,” Meryl adds dully. She feels tired, like she’s been fighting for years, and all she wants is to not have to anymore. She wants to be the kind of person who can reach out to Tessa and apologize directly and ask to be friends again, who can talk to Scott about their relationship and come to some sort of understanding. Who, four years ago, could have stood her ground with Charlie about Tanith instead of breaking and yelling at him once and then letting it slide forever.

She always lets things go.

 

Charlie frowns, looking puzzled and irritated and even a little exasperated. “Then why are you telling me?”

She blinks. “What?”

“Why are you telling me now?”

She wasn’t expecting that. Meryl tries to think of why she’d tell Charlie now, instead of any time during the last four years; when it started, when it was going on, right after it ended. She had told herself it was because of Tessa, but Tessa wouldn’t tell anyone, hurt as she was. And it had been over for a year, so it wasn’t as if it was pertinent to their situation right this moment.

It might be, she thinks, that after four years of secrecy and lies, she simply wanted to tell somebody. But that isn’t it, not completely.

Meryl doesn’t look Charlie in the eyes. “Because I thought you should know.”

For what may be the first time in her life, she can’t read his expression.

He’s quiet for a long time. 

“I understand,” and she hopes he just saying that because she barely understands anything anymore. But it doesn’t even really matter, because for the first time in awhile, she feels like that they’ve reached each other.

“So,” Meryl whispers, “We’re okay?” Charlie wraps his arms around her. “We’re okay.” She closes her eyes and leans into him, so relieved.

At least something’s okay.

Meryl and Scott have reached a sort of silent agreement, but Meryl has no idea how to talk to Tessa, and every day she doesn’t, the chasm between them grows wider. It’s hard to see her friend drift away from her, but it’s also easier, because she’s got the Olympics to worry about, and it had always been difficult for her to reach out to people. Scott had reached out to her, and maybe that’s why she still wants him in her life outside of occasional nods across the ice and sandwiches left on her bag. It wasn’t that she didn’t want Tessa in her life, but Scott was always in her face, forcing her to react. Tessa had never even acknowledged there was a problem, and so nothing changed.

 

She signs a waver for Tessa and Scott’s reality show, and she does without thinking. It’s kind of odd, but it’s fine. Nothing has to change, she tells herself. It shouldn’t be a distraction.

She won’t let anything change.

But then it’s January, and the Olympics are in a month, and Meryl’s having a crisis because of a reality show. Because she had watched Tessa and Scott out of curiosity only to find out they’d painted her as some sort of evil ice queen who wanted to destroy Tessa and Scott’s pure, innocent love. And it’s just the producers, and it makes sense that they’d be painted as rivals, but she wonders if Scott or Tessa had anything to do with it. The thought makes her chest hurt, even though she and Scott are kind of okay, they still hadn’t talked and she’s barely said a word to Tessa in months. And it’s silly, she knows it’s silly but she wants to call Scott so he’d make fun of the show with her, for her, and let her lay her head on his shoulder. If Scott were here, he’d roll his eyes and tell her not to be silly and press a quick affectionate kiss to her hairline or the corner of her mouth.

Or at least, he would have once.

Instead she calls Charlie, and she doesn’t really explain, but she goes over to his place to play with DJ. It’s a way of coping, and she cannot afford to break down now. After the Olympics, she’ll think things through, decide what she really wants. But not now.

 

A month later, Meryl and Charlie become the first Americans to win Olympic Gold in ice dancing. It should be the best moment of her life, and it is, but then rumors abound, about how they didn’t deserve it, about collusion with the judges, about them cheating. And it hurts to have her achievement tarnished like that, but she simply smiles and holds her medal aloft, because no matter what anyone says, she’s earned it.

 

The rehearsals for the Olympic Gala bring a surprise with them. She’s sitting next to Charlie on a bench, both of them brimming with joy when Scott and Tessa sit on the bench next to them.

“Hey,” Scott says, and it’s directed at both of them, but he’s looking at her. She smiles at both of them, compliments them on their performances and it’s a little awkward at first, but Scott and Charlie get into some argument about hockey, and Tessa’s smiling and teasing them both, and it’s almost like it was before. Not quite, but maybe things can heal. Maybe she and Tessa can be friends again. And maybe she and Scott can--.

Meryl cuts off that line of thinking. She may have won the Olympics, but it still isn’t time to think about that yet. She’s still got a boyfriend, even if he’s dumped his girlfriend. Scott can wait.

She still responds when he texts her though, and short greetings turn into her giggling uncontrollably at her phone an hour later which turns into her not telling him goodnight until past midnight. While they don’t discuss their relationship, she and Scott do end up text a lot. He sends her dumb memes and teases her about her upcoming stint on Dancing With the Stars, and she responds perhaps a little too sharply that she knows how producers can make you look. He doesn’t respond for awhile, but when she wakes up, she has a text. I’m sorry about that.

It takes her a little while to figure how to respond to that, because Scott rarely apologises, and she wonders if he’s only talking about the show. In the end she just texts It’s okay :), because she has too much she wants to say.

Dancing With the Stars is fun, even if Charlie gets eliminated before the finale. And Maks is great. He’s open and obvious in his affections, which she needs after breaking up with Fedor, and with whatever is going on with Scott. Scott’s not texting her as much as he used to, so she compensates for that with Maks. She genuinely likes him, but there’s little future to their relationship, and sometimes she feels a little guilty in his arms. They never do hookup in the end, and she’s pretty sure it’s for the best.

Meryl wins, and it’s sweet, a validation almost. She hadn’t wanted it is much as she had wanted the Olympic Gold, but it’s still nice. Congratulations come pouring in, but Scott doesn’t text her for three days. Congrats is all it reads, and she’d been waiting for that? Meryl wonders if this is another thing that’s going to slip away from her, another relationship she’ll let fade.

She always lets go.

Thanks :) she responds. And then, before Meryl can lose her nerve she sends another one.

I miss you. 

She goes to turn her phone off, heart pounding, but it buzzes with a reply before she can.

Me too.

Meryl doesn’t tell Charlie why she’s smiling, but from the way he simultaneously sighs and laughs awkwardly, she’s pretty sure he’s guessed.

She comes back to Michigan two days before Scott and Tessa pack up for good, and Meryl isn’t nearly as surprised as she should be when she finds Scott at her door the morning before his departure. She lets him in and they sit on her couch, closer than the last time, knees brushing. She’s about to offer to get him a drink or something, to ease the tension, when he speaks.

“I saw you on Dancing With the Stars,” and she doesn’t know what to say to that, so she just nods. “Congrats on that, by the way.”

“Thanks,” she says, carefully, because while she’s been congratulated a thousand times, including by Scott, she doesn’t know where he is going with this.

“Are you seeing that Maks guy?”

She’s thrown, because she’s been asked that question almost as often as she’s been congratulated, but she never expected it from him.

“No. No I’m not.”

He nods, and starts to fidget. She steels herself, and, without looking at him, reaches her hand out to still his. He doesn’t relax, but his face softens a bit at the edges.

“Look,” he says, “I’m going back to Canada. But it’s not that far, and I was thinking we should see each other sometime. Regularly.”

Meryl’s known Scott for ten years know, and she doesn’t always know what he’s thinking. But in this case, she decides she can take a leap of faith. So she leans over and kisses him briefly.

“I’d like that,” she says, heart pounding from a mixture of joy and anxiety, and he grins at her, open and happy.

It’s another three hours before he leaves her apartment to finish packing.

Telling people that they’re together comes with mixed results. The Shibs gape a little, and Jeremy looks at her a little funny. Charlie seems to struggle with himself a little before eventually wishing them well. Tanith, oddly enough, doesn’t seem fazed at all, claiming that the two of them had emitted enough chemistry to blow up a small country. Her mother is surprised and a little confused, but Meryl’s not competing anymore so she also gives them her blessing. Really, it’s only awkward with Tessa. But even she seems accepting of it, and even manages to give Meryl a hug.

Eventually, people stop gaping at the two of them like they’re some sort of odd, fascinating animal. Eventually the media catches wind of their relationship and has a field day. Eventually she and Tessa are friends again, and although their relationship is never the same, it’s also better in some ways. Eventually Charlie stops side eyeing Scott every time they’re in a room together.

But that’s a story for another time.


End file.
